Piano



NOV. 17, 1936. L HElTZMANN 2,061,154

PIANO Filed Feb. 24, 1936 v INVENTOR Lou/5 6 5/72 M/i/V/V ATTORNEYS end portion of the key lever showing a 9 form or" the invention and Fig. 5 is side ele Patented Novo 17,

hauls to We vention relates to 'icularly with the hey-apex upright piano, an object i tron being to provide an improved c and arrangement of the parts of sue ich will he extremely compact it possib e to considerably reduce upm 'ht piano without tion.

Other objects and advantages c" well the novel details t1 arrangement and combination 4 loecorne apparent from a study or to. description, when taken in connection accompanying drawing in which elevation of an up-rig t piano a lever arrangement embodying rny inve several parts thereof being in their at-rest position; Fig. 2 is a similar View, sthe parts in the position which they ensun alrey has been struck and when in i is a top view of the inner end porti 10' ciated lrey lever; Fig. i is a top view oi the tion of the parts shown in Fig.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the reference character 0 indicates the inner end of a piano key lever which is supported inter-= mediate its ends upon a block 2 mounted on the base board. 3 or the piano. The key lever is pivoted to rock on the block 2 in the customary fashion by means of a pin t, which extends up through the key lever. A cushion of felted material is provided on the base board 3 to support the inner end of the key lever in its normal or at-rest position as shown in Fig. 1.

Intermediate the inner end of the hey lever and the associated piano wire ii, is disposed the action mechanism comprising a wippen l, pivotally sup ported at ii by a depending flange 9, which is secured at its upper end to the lower end of an action rail iii. Fastened to the upper end of the action rail it) is a flange iii pivotally sup-poi?- ing a hammer-butt it, which carries the usual shank l3 and the hammer it, the shank it resting against the rail it when in its normal or at rest position, as shown in Fig. l. The hammei butt i2 is provided with the usual cushion and the upwardly and outwardly inclined cushion surface ill. The cushions it and W are engaged by the upper offset end it of a jack i9, winch is pivoted at its lower end to an upwardly extending lug it, carried by the wippen ll. ihe offset end it of the jack is normally held against the or she c -ower e ippen, as shown supported a Ste; 22 adapted to co" engages with the s he jack [19 will be:

wippen rail E about its pivot i e the piano trey. t rig. t piano actions the stop 23 is ne individual regulating button which on a ship rail suitably mounted in the pi may be adjusted to regulate the let-off of liar er from the string.

the hammer-butt is connected a downwardly and outwardly extending inclined rod or screw 2d, which carries a counter-check or button on its outer end. The screw 26 extends through a slotted arm or back-check 26 provided on the jack is near its upper end, said arm being disposed in angular relation with the ofiset end [18 or the jack and extending upwardly and outwardly from the jack to a point beyond the rod or screw 26, which carries the button Th U when the jack it is actuated as above described to operate the hammer, the outer face of the arm or hack-check 26 will contact with the button 25, thereby stopping the movement or the hammer and holding it against vibration, as shown in Fig. 2. The parts are so arranged that the look-- ing action will not take place until the hammer G6 has struck the string 6 a blow. Due to the inclination of the hack-check 26, it will start the hammer on its movement toward the rail l5 when the key is released independent of the spring 2?, which is carried by the spring rail 2i} and is adapted to-return the several parts of the mtion to their normal or at-rest position.

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the wippen l is provided at its outer end with a pair of spaced downwardly-extending projections or lugs which form a support for a pin 30, which extends transversely therethrough. Pivotally connected to the pin 3i intermediate the lugs Bil is the short leg 32 of a bent pull rod or wire, the longer leg of which is disposed at right angles to the short leg and extends upwardly in a vertical direction intermediate the outer end of the wippen I and the inner end of the key lever I. Ihe upper end of the longer leg 33 passes through a slot formed in the inner end of the key lever I, which projects sufficiently beyond the inner end of the base board 3 and the cushion 5 to provide for free movement of the pull rod. As shown more clearly in Fig. 1, the slot extends the width of the projecting end of the key lever l, which. is beveled downwardly and outwardly to form the curved end surface 34 of the key lever, said slot being constricted at its outer end by a pair of beads 35, as shown in Fig. 3. The heads 35 and the end surface 36 of the slot diverge down-- wardly' so that a substantially frusto-conically shaped opening 31 is formed in the projecting end of the key lever through which extends the upper end portion of the pull wire. The walls of the slot are provided with a cushion 38, as shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 3. The upper end portion of the long leg 33 of the pull wire is screw-threaded and carries a button 39, which rests on the upper surface of the key lever i.

The pull wire 32, 33 must, of course, have a rigidity appropriate to maintain the angular relation between the leg 32 and the leg 33 at the end of each operation. At the same time the presence of the angle in the pull wire introduces into the structure a certain elasticity which contributes to the so-called touch of the instrument. For example, when the key is depressed in playing the piano, a tendency to open the angle ensues, but the resilient reaction of the legs of the pull wire to maintain the angle therebetween will impart a follow-up impulse to the wippen so that there will not only be a smart advance of the hammer against the string, but after the hammer butt l2 has moved away from the end l8 of the jack l9 there will be no active force to counteract the upward elastically in duced movement of the short leg 32 of the pull wire during the time that the original angle between the two legs of the pull wire is restored by the elasticity of the bent wire. It is further of the same importance that the pivotal connection between the leg 32 and the pin 3| of the wippen be produced by a circular configuration of the end of the leg 32 since by this arangement the fractional forces which would otherwise be op-- posed to the elasticity of the wire in regaining its initial angle as between legs 32 and 33, are reduced to a negligible minimum.

It will be' seen that by reason of the above described arrangement of the parts, I am enabled to position the action mechanism intermediate the inner end of the key lever and the piano wire and thereby considerably reduce the height of the standard up-right piano, without affecting" the normal operation of such mechanism. When the piano key is depressed, the key lever I will rock about its pivot, thereby raising the inner end thereof, which motion will be transferred to the wlppen I by means of the pull rod so that the hammer l4 willbe caused to strike the string 6. Due to the manner in which the pull rod is connected to the key lever and the wippen, the

' movement of the parts will be entirely free, unrestrained and noiseless. By adjusting the button 39, the standard depth of touch can be accurately obtained.

In. the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner end of the key lever is provided with an outwardly extending vertical slot 40 provided with straight parallel sidewalls and having a, cylindrically-shaped inner portion H, through which extends the longer leg 33 of the pull rod or wire. The upper end of the slot portion 41 is countersunk to form a recess 42 within which is seated a relatively long button 43 having a diameter less than that of the recess to prevent frictional contact therebetween during the operation of the parts. The button 43 is provided at its lower end with a felt disc 44 having diameter substantially equal to that of the recess 42 so that it fits snugly in the bottom end or". such recess. The advantages of this construction overv the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 that it is less expensive, positively maintains the leg 33 of the pull rod in proper relation to the slot, yet enables the pull rod to be readily disconnected from the key lever and reduces friction to, a minimum.

It will be apparent that other modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of my invention without departing from the scope thereof as covered by the appended claims, whose purpose it is to include and embrace any such modifications or equivalents.

I claim:

1. In an up-right piano, the combination of a string, a pivoted key lever extending outwardly to the front of the piano, and action mechanism disposed intermediate said string and the inner end of said key lever and in operative association, with said string and key lever, said mechanism comprising a wippen located below the level of said key lever, means for pivotally supporting said wippen, and a pull wire pivotally connected to the outer end portion of said wippen and extending thence first toward the front of the piano and then upwardly through slot provided in the inner end of said key lever, said slot being formedto enable the pull wire to move freely throughout its range of movement, an adjustable button carried by said pull wire and seated upon the inner end of said key lever and means for retaining the pull wire in proper position in said slot.

2. In an up-right piano, the combination of a base board having a stationary pivot mounted thereon, a, key lever fulcrumed on said pivot and extending inwardly towards a piano string, the inner end of said key lever projecting beyond the inner end of said base board, action mechanism. disposed intermediate the inner. end of said key lever and said string, said mechanism comprising a wippen located below the level of said key lever, means for pivotally supporting said wippen, and a pull wire connecting said key lever with said wippen, said pull wire comprising an offset lower end. portion pivotally connected to the outer end portion of said wippen and a main portion which extends upwardly at an approximately right angle to the offset portion between said action mechanism and the inner end of said base board and passes through a. slot provided in the inner projecting end of said key lever, said slot being formed to enable the pull wire to move freely throughout its range of movement, an adjustable button carried by said pull wire and seated upon the inner projecting portion of said key lever and means for retaining the pull wire in proper position in said slot.

3. In an up-right piano, the combination of a string, a pivoted key lever extending outwardly to the front of the piano, the inner end of said key lever being slotted to provide a pair of inwardly extending vertically disposed flanges, action mechanism disposed intermediate said string and aoeiniaa the inner end of said key lever, said mechanism comprising a wippen located below the level of said key lever, means for pivotally supporting said wippen, and a pull wire connecting said key lever with said wippen, said pull wire comprising an offset lower relatively horizontal end por tion pivotally connected to the underside of the outer end portion of said wippen, and a main portion which extends upwardly in a relatively vertical direction and passes through the slot in said key lever, an adjustable button carried by said pull wire and seated upon the inner end of said key lever and means for retaining the pull wire in proper position in said slot.

4. A piano such as set forth in claim 3, in which the flanges on the inner end of said key lever are provided with beads to constrict the side opening of said slot, said beads and the inner side of said slot diverging downwardly to pro-=- vide a frusto-conically shaped opening for said pull wire and cushion material lining the inner walls of said slot. I

5. A piano such as set forth in claim 3, in which the root portions of said inwardly extending flanges are thinner than the outer portions thereof, to provide an enlarged section of which the pivotal supporting means between the wippen and the pull wire comprises a circular configuration at that end of the pull wire which forms the pivotal connection with the wippen, and a pin associated with the wippen and normally extending through and supported against said circular end portion of the pull wire.

'7. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the slot at the inner end of the key lever is wider than the diameter of the pull wire and in which the means for retaining the pull wire within the said slot are constituted of a recess in the top portion of the end of the key lever within which recess is positioned the adjustable button.

LOUIS HEITZMANN. 

